Through the Seeing Stone
by Jessie Brown 4
Summary: Before the War of the Ring, three infant hobbits with special abilities were born; One with the power to heal, one with the power to see beyond, and one with incredible intelligence. When danger began to rise, Gandalf sent these infants to a place where they could be safe from Sauron's eye. Now that the War is over, Frodo Baggins and his friends must find these lost hobbits.
1. Chapter 1

Through the Seeing Stone

Ruby Pool, Jessie Brown, and May Waters

Prologue

First of All

May Waters

"So, I was thinking we could put this bit on the Lit Mag blog," Samantha was saying as she worked on her mini iPad. She was about five foot nine inches, and the tallest of her two best friends, except for the girl she was talking to now, the fashionista of the human world: Kyra. Samantha swept her brown bob out of her face, attempting to not mess up her carefully laid bangs. Her light, hazel eyes examined the screen before her with diligence- this was her high school duty, and she was determined to make the most of it. Her grade depended on this year-long project.

"What are you girls up to?" Samantha looked up to see Mr. Kochevar leaning over them with a much too curious expression on his face.

"We're working on the class blog." Samantha told him, turning back to her typing.

"Ah, keep up the good work." The principal walked away, Kyra's and Samantha's eyes following him until he stopped at another table to talk to some of the other teenagers.

"What do you think?" Samantha turned back to her original conversation.

"Yeah, it'll work." Kyra replied, running her fingers through her long, blonde hair. Their friends, Tammy and Morgan sat down at the lunch table. Tammy set her lunchbox down, making a clanking noise a little louder than she intended with the metal box.

"Hey," Tammy greeted with a wide grin, as though the noise didn't bother her.

"Hi guys!" Samantha returned, using her Bluetooth keyboard to change applications.

"What are you working on today?" Morgan asked, digging through her backpack for the celery sticks she had packed in the morning.

"I just finished planning out a page for the blog, now I'm working on my latest novel." Samantha explained, beginning her typing, only breaking to take a bite of her sandwich or enjoy one of the chips. Sharing her four cookies between those sitting at the table. "Hey, do you want to come over after school today? We could watch Pirates of the Caribbean and do something."

"I have to study for Physics, sorry." Morgan declined.

"Work." Kyra stated, though Samantha already knew she'd want to watch something more like Mean Girls over Pirates.

"I have a rehearsal." Tammy explained further. Samantha deflated only a bit.

"I need a job…"

"Would you like to donate a dollar to the Breast Cancer Society and get some coupons for Jamba Juice?" Kyra held up some pink papers with the store's logo on them.

"I would, but I don't have a dollar." Samantha replied.

"You guys?"

"Nope, sorry Kyra." Morgan piped up while Tammy shook her head.

"Oh well," Kyra shrugged.

~jb~

"It seems I have one more adventure for the four of you." Gandalf announced, while he sat enjoying the weed from the South Farthing with Frodo, Samwise, Meriadoc, and Peregrin.

"Have you not asked enough of us yet Gandalf? We went to Mordor and back for you," Frodo teased blowing out a slow smoke ring.

"Traveling to Mordor was of your own volition, may I remind you Frodo Baggins." Gandalf chuckled. "I asked you only to bring the ring to Rivendell,"

"Yes, but it was on your account I stopped all the fighting during the council."

"Frodo Baggins, it seems you have surprised me yet again. That's _twice_ within the years I've known you."

"What is it you want us to do Gandalf?" Pippin asked excitedly, nearly bouncing out of his chair.

"Well, here's the story." Gandalf replied, slightly adjusting in his seat. "When you were all very small, there were three hobbit infants with different abilities. One who could heal, one who could see beyond, and one with high intelligence. I could sense the evil starting to come towards this land and I managed to send them away before Sauron could take interest. To another world."

"You sent three of our own kind to another world?" Merry looked confused, which was quite understandable in a situation like this.

"I did, in order to protect them, but it seems I was mistaken." Gandalf looked down, smoke billowing out from his mouth with no particular shape in mind.

"You were mistaken, how?" Pippin asked in shock.

"It seems Sauron was destroyed in this world, but his spirit managed to escape to the world where our lost hobbits are. It is indeed quite troubling." Gandalf explained.

"Sauron is still alive?" Frodo looked scared, just as he should with this news bringing back old pains and struggles.

"Yes, but this time it should be far easier to kill him. His soul is no longer connected to the ring, so it is a matter of finding him and destroying his soul altogether."

"How did you get them to this other world?" Sam questioned leaning back in the chair.

"There is a stone set just outside Rivendell known as the Seeing Stone. You can use it to see other worlds besides our own and on occasions, send other's through it."

"On occasion?" Frodo repeated.

"Every blue moon,"

"Then how are we to get to this world to try and stop Sauron from destroying it?"

"There is a blue moon in a few weeks, just enough time for one to travel to Rivendell and prepare for a new world."

"Well then, I'm going. Besides you need hero's like us for this sort of mission, quest…thing." Pippin nodded at his genius, Merry raised an eyebrow before shaking his head.

"If Pippin is going, then so am I." Merry smiled putting his own pipe back between his teeth. "To keep an eye on Pip, of course."

"I want to go to, I stopped Sauron once, and I want to finish the job." Frodo said seriously, eyes filling with determination.

"If Frodo's going then I'd better go to keep him out of trouble," Sam grinned and shoved Frodo playfully who returned the gesture.

"Then you four shall go, the Stone Travelers you'll be known as." Gandalf stood and made his way towards the door. "I suggest you all get ready; we leave tomorrow at dawn."

"Great, where are we going?" Pippin jumped up as well, a biscuit in hand.

"Earth," Gandalf replied before disappearing into the night.

**Author's Note: Hey guys! I want to apologize for the confusion that is this story. Me and my friends have been working on this story for like...7 years?! And it's been out of the frying pan and into the fire, there and back again, took the Ring to Mordor, fell into lava before crawling back out, and brushing itself off.**

**My friend and I are finally finishing it. Credit will go to all three authors because all three of us have contributed to this story.**

**To all the faithful fans of this story, I hope you come across this again and enjoy it as you have done in the past!**

**Lots of love from the writers!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter One

Revelations

Ruby Pool

The sun had not even begun to rise when a loud knocking sound came at the Gamgee door. "Coming!" Sam called as loudly as he dared, as he rushed to answer it (luckily, he was already dressed and ready for the big day ahead) wondering why any of his friends would be here quite so early. Sure, Gandalf had said they were leaving at dawn but that was at least a half hour away.

"Good morning Samwise Gamgee, there is something I must discuss with you. Could you please awake your parents? This concerns them too." Gandalf told him, sounding completely self-assured as he pushed his way past Sam and into their quaint little Hobbit hole.

"Um… of course." He agreed somewhat reluctantly, rushing to his knock at his parent's bedroom door feeling extremely guilty as he did so. "Ma, Gaffer! Gandalf's here! He'd like to speak with us."

"Gandalf? The Wizard? What would he like to speak to us for?" The old Gaffer asked as he groggily came out of the room, his wife right behind him both still dressed in their night clothes.

"I'm not sure," Sam admitted sheepishly as he led the way back to the front hall where the old Wizard was waiting. "But he seems to think it's important."

"It is important." He insisted sounding slightly offended that Sam would even insinuate it wasn't. "Especially if you want to be truly prepared for our upcoming adventure."

"You mean our journey to Earth?" Sam asked thoroughly confused, though his parents seemed to instantly stiffen at the mention of the place. "What could you have to tell me that you won't need to tell the others?"

"Perhaps if you could remain quiet for a moment, I would explain." He snapped, startling Sam into silence. "That's better. You see my dear Hobbit, one of those three girls that I sent to another world, was your sister."

"My sister!" Sam gasped in surprise, his parents wincing as he did so. "But that's impossible! I have only three sisters, Daisy, May, and Marigold. And I know for a fact that they are all here safe and sound."

"Those are the only sisters that you know of." Gandalf corrected him. "There was another, ask your parents if you don't believe me."

"He's telling you the truth Sam." Bell Gamgee whimpered, her eyes filling with unshed tears as she raised her head to meet her sons bewildered gaze.

"But how is that even possible? You said that they were born around the same time as us. Surely my mother couldn't have had two children so close together unless…." He trailed off, eyes widening as the truth suddenly hit him with a horribly painful blow.

"Yes Sam." The Old Gaffer confirmed what was rapidly becoming Sam's worst nightmare, as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "She was your twin."

"I'm a…. twin." Sam breathed, blinking slowly as the daze that had settled over him began to evaporate under a hot anger. "How could you keep this from me?!"

"We're sorry Sam; we always wanted to tell you but it was just too painful." His mother apologized, her tears falling freely now as she thought of the child she had lost, but his own pain was too fierce for him to pity her.

"That's no excuse. She was my twin, mother! My other half! The least you could have done was tell me about her!" He exclaimed angrily, doing his best to control his temper and not wake up any of his siblings but it was difficult. "Why would you give her away in the first place?"

"We didn't give her away, Sam." His father insisted, instantly defensive of their actions. "We sent her with Gandalf for her own protection."

"Her protection?"

"Yes. One of the girl's parents were killed by evil folk, servants of Sauron we now believe, and her life was barely spared. Gandalf told us he was taking her away from the Shire, from all of Middle-Earth really, to a world where she would be safe. He insisted on taking your sister along as well."

"But why?"

"Because I sensed something special about her from almost the day the two of you were born." Gandalf cut in, sighing that such a thing was even necessary. In his opinion his advice should always be enough. "Bilbo did as well. In fact, we were actually quite intrigued by both of you, but she was the one who had a truly peculiar air about her. I knew I had to get her out of the Shire before Sauron could take notice, and besides I sensed even at that time that you would serve a greater purpose right here; and I was right."

"What's her name?" Sam finally asked, his voice slightly more controlled once it had all sunk in.

"We can't tell you." Gandalf quickly replied before either parent could respond. "You must find her on your own. Your bond as twins will be one of your greatest strengths on this adventure, and it is vital that you use it to discover her, or it won't mean nearly as much and thus be severely weakened."

"Can you at least tell me what she looks like then?"

"We're not sure. You were only babies when she left." His mother recalled wistfully. "I can only imagine what she looks like now."

"Beautiful I'm sure." The Old Gaffer murmured, a single tear escaping his own eye.

"A word of advice Samwise Gamgee," Gandalf cut in looking the young hobbit right in the eye as he continued. "You'll have an easier time discovering her if you search with your heart, rather than your eyes."

"I'd have an easier time discovering her if you'd just tell me her name!" He shouted in response before storming out of the Hobbit hole, to frustrated and overwhelmed to remain in the same room with these people who had kept this important truth from him his entire life. He, Samwise Gamgee, was a twin.

"Sam!" He heard a voice call out to him before he had gotten very far, and he turned to see none other than Rosie Cotton running to catch up with him. "Sam! What's wrong?"

"Oh, hello Rosie," Sam began blushing to think he'd been caught in such a horrible mood by the one Hobbit lass who truly held his heart in her hands. "Nothing's wrong. Gandalf's just got another adventure for us and…"

"Another adventure?!" Rosie cried looking shocked and hurt all at once. "You're leaving me again, Samwise?"

"I'm sorry Rosie, but I must. It seems Sauron's spirit was not completely demolished when Frodo destroyed the ring, but he simply fled to another world. But that's not all. Apparently, Gandalf sent three Hobbit girls there when they were born. So not only do we have to destroy Sauron once and for all, but we must save them as well. And…." He explained, but Rosie cut him off before he could continue.

"I'm coming with you then."

"What?"

"You heard me. I can see that your mission is of the greatest importance, but I refuse to be parted from you ever again. Not like last time. Besides, perhaps I could help."

"You make a good argument my dear Rosie." Gandalf mused as he came up behind the two startled Hobbits. "Very well. Hurry and pack your things, we meet at Bag-End in twenty minutes. Be quick now." With that Rosie raced off back in the direction of her home, the sun's light just beginning to peak over the mountains, though the moon still clearly ruled the sky.

"What? Why would you do that? This could be dangerous!" Sam protested glaring at Gandalf.

"No more dangerous than if she tried to follow us on her own, which I do not doubt she would do." He reasoned, and Sam had to concede he was right. "You didn't tell her, did you?"

"No, I didn't get a chance."

"Good. You must tell no one Sam. This is your task and your task alone."

"But how can I keep such a secret from her? She's practically my fiancée!"

"Rosie's a smart girl, I'm sure she'll figure it out on her own. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if she discovered who your twin is before you do."

"I wouldn't either." Sam agreed sighing, still feeling frustrated but at least slightly more uplifted than before, as he and turned back into the house to grab the things he had gathered for the journey ahead.

~jb~

The journey to Rivendell went quite smooth, at least compared to their first visit there, though they still met with a delay or two (which is only to be expected when traveling in the wild). When they finally arrived, it was the day of the full moon and Gandalf saw to it that they all washed up and were able to have a marvelous meal before their adventure truly began. Once that was finished, he led them to a small balcony, where a large blue stone lay underneath the light of the equally blue moon. The hobbits gazed at its beautiful reflecting gleam for what felt like a long moment before Gandalf finally broke the silence.

"Now before we travel to this new world, there are a few things you must know." He told them with the most serious tone he could manage. "For one, hobbits do not exist there at all and never have. They once had dwarves and elves among them, but they have all disappeared and most do not believe that they ever existed. It is completely run by humans, although they do have many animals as well."

"How shall we ever fit in then?" Merry asked perplexed. "If there are no hobbits, and how did the girls last as long as they have?"

"Because I disguised them as humans as I sent them through the Stone, just as I will do to all of you." He explained a bit impatiently. "Anyway, as I was saying, their children all go to a place they call school from five years old to eighteen. Here they learn more about their world, its history, languages, and so forth. This is where you will be going, to the girls' high school."

"You mean they're not even in their tweens?" Sam exclaimed completely taken aback by this revelation for obvious reasons. "But I thought they were supposed to be the same age as us!"

"They are. Time simply goes slower there then it does here. Technically, when they return to Middle-Earth they will be the same age, just as you will be theirs on our adventure. Don't worry Samwise, I'm sure their maturity level is the same."

"What about food? What kind of food do they have?" Pippin asked, getting to what he felt was the real heart of the matter.

"Oh, lots of different things, many of which you have never dreamed of. However, you'll be surprised to learn my young Peregrin Took, that they only have meals three times." Gandalf replied waiting for the unavoidable outburst. They didn't disappoint him.

"Only three meals a day!" Each of the hobbits cried out in horror.

"How do they survive?" Pippin asked alarmed. "How shall we survive?"

"The same way they do, by controlling your appetites." Gandalf snapped. "Now one last word of advice before we depart, in this world they have invented many wonderful machines the likes of which I cannot describe. Just…. Please try not to be alarmed upon your arrival." At that he reached out his hand to the glowing blue stone, each of the hobbits quickly following suit, and with a sudden burst of light they disappeared into the night.

**Author's note: Yay! They're finally going!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Dumped

(Jessie Brown)

The hobbits slipped through some strange curtain and onto the ground that seemed to be moving. Frodo quickly hopped off and found much more stable ground. He watched as a black path slid across the room, dragging his friends and strange bags. He found Merry trying to open one.

"What are you doing?" Frodo asked.

"Trying to figure out how to open this." Merry replied.

"What if that belongs to someone?" Frodo asked.

"Good point," Merry said, and hopped off before he could disappear behind another curtain. "Wow, this floor is really cold."

"I know," Frodo said, looking down at his bare feet. He noticed they were smaller and most of the fur was gone. He felt bald.

"My clothes feel tight." Pippin complained as he came out of the curtain.

"Mine do too," Merry agreed. "Is this what it feels like to be human?"

"What's going on?" Rosie asked as she came out of the curtain. Her eyes were wide with curiosity. "What a strange place…the ground beneath me moves." She hopped off and walked over to her friends. "Where's Sam?"

"He should be coming." Merry replied.

With that, they heard shouting coming from the curtain.

"Ow!"

"Get out of here! You're not supposed to be here! Out, or else I'll call security!"

Sam quickly crawled out. He was panting and his eyes were filled with surprise.

"What happened back there?" Rosie asked.

"Don't ask," Sam replied. "Where's Gandalf?"

"I'm here!" The old Wizard said- but he looked nothing like one. His beard and hair were much shorter. He had on a strange outfit…it looked like a nice suit a hobbit would wear on special occasions. "It's much easier to bring an infant into this world than five fully-grown hobbits."

"Gandalf…?" Pippin went to ask but found a loss of words.

"Yes, I have changed." Gandalf said. "I don't know how any of you can breathe, so here are some new clothes." He tossed the hobbits- or humans- a bundle of clothes. He led them around the large building. The ground was unbearably cold. They found themselves surrounded by people, all different shapes, sizes, and colors. Their hair was occasionally crazy, some didn't even have hair. The place was loud, and almost everyone there was dragging or holding a strange, rectangular bag.

They finally came across two rooms. They each had a similar picture on it.

"Rosie," Gandalf said, addressing the lass. "In this room are stalls. Go inside one of the rooms and change into these clothes."

Rosie nodded, but her face was uncertain.

"Do not fear," Gandalf said. "It is safe. You may also use the restroom if you need."

Again, Rosie nodded, but confusion showed on her face. She walked into the room.

"Come with me," The Wizard said, turning to the boys. He led them into the other room. The floor was made with a strange, cold stone, and there were multiple doorways.

"Go into those stalls and change your cloths." Gandalf instructed.

Each of the boys obeyed him and went into a separate stall. Gandalf stood and waited for them. Frodo was the first to emerge. He looked at himself in the mirror and examined his clothes. He wore a green, short-sleeved shirt and strange blue pants. The others came out with similar pants. Pippin had a blue shirt, Merry in red, and Sam in light gray. They left the strange room and met Rosie. She had on blue pants as well and was looking around nervously. Her shirt looked no different than a blouse, but it was very simple. She kept looking down at her pants, unsure what to make of them.

"Don't worry, Miss Cotton." Gandalf reassured. "You'll get used to it." He led them outside into the world.

They boarded a strange machine Gandalf had called: The tracks. All five hobbits clung for dear life. The seats were all taken, and Frodo wondered how anyone could be so comfortable in such a place. The tracks finally stopped in a small city. Gandalf led the hobbits off and into the strange new world.

~jb~

Tammy was driving in her red sports car and listening to her music as always. She turned it up real loud and was dancing and singing at the top of her lungs. School had been incredibly stressful, and it was only the end of the first week.

Senior year…Tammy vowed to make it the best year of her life. She danced in her car until all her stress was gone. She came to a stoplight and turned on her music even louder. She tossed her head from side to side, flinging her hair around, and enjoying herself. She stopped dead when she noticed a group of pedestrians on the crosswalk; they were walking with much caution while giving her a queer look. Whoops.

She noticed there was an elderly man in a suit. The rest looked like they were all in their teens and they all had curly hair. Tammy guessed they were all related until she noticed the only girl was holding a boy's hand. Tammy grabbed the steering wheel and pretended nothing had happened.

She was however, repulsed by a boy's appearance. His face looked young and incredibly pale, and his hair was dark and messy looking- like James Potter. She really couldn't say…but he seemed strange, and not just in appearance.

Once they had passed out of her sight, she shook her head and began to laugh. She could only imagine Samantha in the car with her. She still would have been dancing; she would've wanted them to give her odd faces. Tammy laughed at the thought and continued driving home.

Her house was large with nice windows and a u-driveway. The house was white with a dark-gray rooftop. Tammy's adopted parents were rich. They finally made it official her sophomore year, it was Tammy's sixth foster home, and this time, it wasn't a disappointment.

All right…maybe it was.

The truth is her adopted parents had no time for her. They were always working or at meetings or out of town. Or whatever! Tammy was surprised she was still sane. At school, she was confident, happy, and daring. At home, she was quiet, sad, and lonely.

When Tammy was born, her parents dumped her at a house. Not knowing what to do, the owners of the house brought her to a foster system. She had a family until she was three, but then they had children of their own and she was dumped at the foster system again. When she was finally in kindergarten, they had found her another family for four years until they were tired of her. When she was nine, she lived in a mansion for three years, but they gave her up. She had lived with abusive foster parents when she was twelve and then spent two years at a house with horses. The foster parents had to pay to help their horse, which was a sad parting for Tammy. She had been given up so many times because she couldn't sit still to save her life. She was too restless.

But when she was fifteen, Ruth and John had taken her in as a foster child for a while. When her sophomore year in high school had come to an end, they finally decided to adopt her. Tammy had to admit, she was happy about that, but she wished they would spend more time with her.

Tammy worked on her homework and then took a nap. She crashed onto her bed, curled up, and fell asleep.

_Ivy, run! Get out of here!_

_Hush child…_

_Run Ivy, get out of-_

_Be safe, I love you little one._

_We must find her!_

_I want him to suffer!_

Tammy sat up with a jolt. She gasped and placed a hand on her heart. It was the dream again. It had been a while sense she had that dream. There was someone running with a baby in her arms and placing her in a chest, a tall man, dressed in all black, and a strange fire…

The scary thing was…Tammy could've sworn she was seeing it all through the baby's eyes. She had no idea why. To calm herself down, she sang a tune she had always known. She didn't know the words, but it was a tune which seemed all too familiar, only to her mind.

**Hope y'all enjoyed! Leave a review! **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

School is What Now?

May Waters

"Gandalf, where are we supposed to live?" Sam asked, looking around at all the tall building, signs, and what appeared to be homes.

"I suppose we'll have to find somewhere, but how indeed." Gandalf looked around; this world was far more confusing than Middle Earth.

"What's that?" Merry asked suddenly, pointing at a sign in the yard of a nearby house.

Harvest Moon Realtors

801-555-4387

Attached to the sign was a box with information on the house and pictures of the inside. Gandalf took the last one and nodded as he examined it. It seemed perfect for their needs, at least for the months they would be here. The girls would most likely not come easily.

"What are the numbers for?" Pippin began to poke at the sign watching it swing back and forth.

"I believe this is how you contact people in this world." Gandalf replied.

"You can't write them, or walk to them?" Frodo glanced around and saw someone across the street taking into their shoulder, climbing into one of the moving carriages without horses.

"I think not," Gandalf removed the pipe from his pocket and lit it up. Someone at the house next door came out and glared at Gandalf, which shocked the hobbits. Did they look strange?

"Gandalf, how is smoking looked upon in this world?" Rosie asked picking up on the discontent of the person as they coughed from the smoke snaking its way down the street.

"Judging by what I'm seeing, it affects humans more than our world; judging from the glare, it's frowned upon and possibly dangerous. We'll have to keep our smoking a secret."

"Three meals a day and no smoking in public, this world is turning out to be worse than I originally thought." Merry slumped and kicked a pebble with the tip of his shoe. It was strange seeing something other than his furry toes.

"Cheer up Merry; we're saving some of our own people. I think we can sacrifice a little." Sam patted his friend on the shoulder.

"We must find a way to contact these Harvest Moon people." Gandalf tapped the paper with the end of his staff. There was a loud ringing issuing out of nowhere. The hobbits jumped and Gandalf examined it carefully, was this how they communicated?

"Harvest Moon Realtors, this is Janet, how may I help you?"

"Ah yes, we were in the area of a house for sell from your company, and I was wondering if it was possible, we could purchase it." Gandalf spoke slowly trying to figure out how to address the invisible person.

"What is the address sir?" Janet drawled, there was a small snap from the other side.

"I'm… 7956 is on the house and down the street there is a sign that says Periwinkle Circle 2923 W." Gandalf squinted to try and make out the little green sign.

"Is the house a south or a north?" Janet's voice was muffled a bit and it sounded as though she were chewing food.

"It's facing east," Gandalf said indignantly, wondering if these humans even knew how to get to places.

"That's a south address sir,"

"That doesn't make any sense."

"The street is going south and houses on the right are south and ones of the left are north. Didn't you learn this in school?"

"I seem to have forgotten," Gandalf replied glancing around at the different houses trying to understand how the ones in the circle would work.

"You do understand the house is two-hundred sixty thousand dollars?" Janet snapped what was in her mouth and there was a small clicking sound.

"I have the money for it,"

"Bank account number?"

"I have the money with me on site." Gandalf stated, unsure of what a bank account was, or what it would be used for.

"I'll send someone out, the house has already been vacated, so once we receive the money and you fill out some paperwork you can move your things in. The person we dispatch will be there in an hour," Janet's voice cut off with one more chomp on her food.

"Why in the world would they dispatch someone and send them to us?" Frodo looked scared. Surely, they wouldn't send people dead bodies.

"It is a strange culture indeed Frodo Baggins, strange indeed."

~jb~

They sat outside the cream-colored house, with light blue shutters and white doors. A silver knocker with a small glass hole, stone steps with a beautiful iron railing trailing down onto the long stretch of cement; leading to a giant door with cuts at various points, bits caved in- possibly a fancy element. Pippin was rolling down the small hill in the grass over and over, enjoying the fact he wouldn't accidently roll into someone's yard. Pippin recalled when he and Merry had done it at one point; they had ended up in the Proudfoot's yard and then chased down the road by the grandmother waving a broom. Merry was tapping his foot on the stone step, trying to discover how something solid could make a hollow sound when he hit it with his shoe. Sam was sitting in the middle of the flowerbed pulling up weed and attempting to prune the flowers so they would look nicer. Frodo was leaning against the giant fancy door his head bowed in concentration; once or twice he reached up and rubbed his shoulder which had started acting up again. Gandalf kept opening and closing the strange box, playing with the flag on the side. Rosie was enjoying the soft feel of the grass, as she watched Sam concentrate on the tiniest weeds.

A grey car with a silver ornament on the hood stopped just a foot away from where Gandalf was standing waving the flag back and forth. A young man with a leash tied around his neck, and fancy clothing, climbed out. He was holding a large box in his left hand, his shiny brown shoes clipped along the road and cement as he walked towards them.

"Are you the dead body?" Pippin asked, ceasing his rolling and sitting up, grass tangled in his curly hair.

"Uh, no," The man stopped looking quite confused. "Did you order one?"

"The people said they would dispatch someone and sent them to us, that means they'd send us a dead body. Doesn't it?" Rosie asked.

"It just means they'll take someone from the office and send them out, not kill them. You do know English, don't you?"

"If I didn't know it, I wouldn't be speaking it." Frodo mumbled under his breath.

"Yes well, I suppose we should get started on that paperwork." Gandalf stepped forward dragging the attention to himself.

"You also said you have the money on site?"

"Yes, I do. I just wanted to make sure I have the proper currency. I am foreign you see, so if I could just see one of your, well a bit of your money."

"Give it back once you've examined it," The man rolled his eyes and handed him a hundred-dollar bill. Calculating in his mind he figured how many of these hundred-dollar pieces of paper he might need. Gandalf handed the small bit of paper back to the man, and he unlocked the door so they could enter the house.

~jb~

"Now to get you all registered for school," Gandalf smiled at them.

"Do we really have to go to this school thing?" Merry asked.

"Yes, it is important. The hobbit girls attend the school and it is imperative that you find them."

"How are we supposed to find them?" Rosie asked leaning forward on the table Gandalf had conjured for them.

"There is a way," Gandalf took his seat, the staff leaning against the table. The five hobbits leaned forward further. "You must stare into their eyes for at least thirty seconds before their identity will be revealed to you."

"So, we just walk around school staring into random girls' eyes?" Merry asked.

"I wouldn't go that far, at least try to get to know some of them. I have a feeling you might be naturally drawn to the girls, as they originate from Middle Earth. Try to befriend them before introducing the idea of our world though," Gandalf stood and waved his staff around pulling essentials for their home.

"Why don't you all go find room's you can sleep in while we're living here?" Gandalf suggested. They nodded and dispersed from the kitchen.

~jb~

Samantha woke up when her light was turned on and groaned. Rolling over she glanced at the time. She needed to get a shower. Rolling to the other side she unplugged her iPad from charging all night long. Sliding it up and onto her bed, along with the keyboard she avoided the mess on her floor and entered the bathroom just outside her bedroom door.

An hour later Samantha was ready to go to school, her short hair still wet. Swinging her backpack on, she grabbed a Pop-tart for breakfast and with a wave walked out the front door. Tossing her keys into the air, she caught them and slid them into the lock on the door of her 1972 Chevy Luv. It was red, KC lights sticking up out of the bed. The old engine rumbling to life, Samantha pulled out of the driveway and made her way down the road to her High School. She turned into the school parking lot, having to wait as an elderly gentleman with five teenagers crossed on the sidewalk. The blond one wearing yellow caught her eye. Samantha liked the way his jaw set and how his chin had the small genetic indent in the middle.

Samantha walked into the school just before the group and slid past the jumble of students who seemed to like to stand right in front of the entrance. Glancing at the tables in the commons where everyone ate their lunch, hoping to see her friends. Instead of spotting someone she knew- Samantha ended up in the locker banks where her locker was situated. Swinging the door open, pictures of Fred Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Voldemort greeted her. Down lower near her feet were anime characters from Fairy Tail, her favorite anime, and inside was Niall Horan from One Direction, along with more Harry Potter pictures. James Maslow and Logan Henderson were there in sexy poses as well, Big Time Rush was definitely an amazing band.

"Samantha, hi!" Tammy was suddenly beside her, and she jumped.

"Tammy!" Samantha greeted giving her a hug.

"Oh, I love Fred," Tammy commented pushing the door open even more. A white board at the very top held a list of celebrity and fictional crushes.

"I know right! Rowling should've killed Ron and put Hermione with Fred instead. She almost did and it would've been so much better! Fred and Hermione are like James and Lily and it's adorable." Samantha commented pushing her lunch box onto the top shelf past her ASL and Preschool notebook.

"I'm still not sure about that pairing," Tammy replied.

"You don't have to be, I just love them together." Samantha shut her locker, her backpack left inside. Laughing they headed out of the locker banks and towards the dance studio and girls' dressing rooms. Today was a B-day which meant they would be in Ballroom and today was their first unit; it was certainly going to be a fun day.

~jb~

Sauron's plan was working perfectly. He had managed to infiltrate the High School where he discovered three hobbit-like girls to be. He had killed the previous principal, making room for him to apply for the position instead. Of course, he'd gotten it as well; all part of the plan. No one could resist Sauron or his power; it was truly something no man could withstand. Yet, this morning he was practically forced into letting the White Wizard, Gandalf join his staff. It was inevitable; Gandalf had the apparent qualifications after all. Sauron was only to be known as Mr. Kochevar to the wizard, and who he must absolutely be careful to never come in contact with. He would have to take special precautions, but this was one secret Sauron could never reveal. Especially with the hobbit Frodo Baggins so close. If possible, perhaps he could kill Frodo as well, in revenge for making him flee to this pathetic world. Time would tell, time would tell.

**Okay! Things are getting back on track! Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Awkward Staring

Ruby Pool

Morgan had gotten to the school early that Monday, having promised to help Ms. Christie the preschool teacher with setting up the display case out in the hall. Her real name was Ms. Christiansen but all the kids had always simply called her Ms. Christie. She had given her a bunch of props including a few stuffed baby jaguars, fancy cut out letters that spelled out Junior Jags, etc. Morgan was just hanging up the last letter while standing on top of her backpack because she was too short to reach otherwise when the bell suddenly rang.

Startled she jumped ever so slightly, lost her balance, and found herself falling backwards through the open door of the display case. "Eeeeeep!" She screamed, before someone caught her right before she would've hit the ground.

"Whoa! Nice catch Pippin." A voice laughed from behind her and Morgan gasped as she turned to glance at the laughing boy with curly blonde hair, blue eyes, and a small dimple on his chin and a button-nose that she was sure her friends would've told her was extremely attractive, when a full realization of what had just happened hit her like a ton of bricks.

Blushing horribly, she returned her gaze to her rescuer, a boy with light brown curly hair, kind of baby faced, with the greenest eyes she had ever seen in her life- besides Tammy that is. He smiled down at her with a mischievous and curious smile which only made her blush more. She was doing her best to not freak out, seeing as she'd always been extremely shy especially around boys and being held in one's arms was not a normal occurrence. His staring didn't help, in fact it was as if the moment their gaze had met it had locked, and she was sure he hadn't looked away for at least thirty seconds.

"No kidding, Merry. Are you alright dear?" A feminine voice asked from beside her, immediately releasing Morgan from this strange boy's spell, and causing her to realize she was in the middle of a big group. The girl also had curly hair, but long and blonde, going down to at least the middle of her back. She had soft blue eyes and a kind smile. The boy standing right next to her was a little stockier and had messy curly blonde hair though shorter like the first boys, with green eyes almost as bright as the one they'd called Pippin. Beside him stood a paler looking boy, with dark brown hair which one might have easily mistaken for black (much like her own) and startling blue eyes.

"Oh, I'm fine. Thank you so much for catching me. I don't want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't." Morgan stammered forcing her gaze back to Pippin's, praying inwardly that he wouldn't do that staring thing again, and even more importantly that he'd put her down.

"Oh, Pip here is always glad to help out a damsel in distress." The one called Merry chuckled, while giving him a playful slap on the back. It was easy to tell that these two were best friends.

"Yes, but now that our dear damsel has been saved, she might appreciate it if you put her down." The other blonde boy commented, rolling his eyes at the other two. At this Pippin also started to blush, apparently not having realized he was still holding her.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said, and completely unexpectedly a jolt went through her entire body at the sound of his voice. It was a gentle voice with a playful Scottish lilt to it, which seemed to tug at a distant memory in her mind. "My bad."

"Oh no, it's fine. Thank you, really." She said as he set her gently back on the ground.

"You're welcome." Their eyes met once again, and the memory finally surfaced, if only for an instant.

It was a dream she'd had often as a child, almost every night for years, and then every once in a while, since becoming a teenager; a dream of a beautiful place, with green rolling hills, and a calm river cutting across. But the vision was gone almost as soon as it had come, and she was stuck back in reality.

"So, what's your name?" The girl asked kindly, her smile nearly as bright as the sun.

"Morgan Wright." She replied. "And you are?"

"Rosie Cotton, and these are my friends, Samwise Gamgee, Frodo Baggins, Meriadoc Brandybuck, and Peregrin Took." She introduced gesturing to each in turn as she did.

"But you can call me Sam." Samwise cut in.

"And we're Merry and Pippin." Merry corrected gesturing to his friend. Yep, Morgan was convinced they had to be best friends.

"Rosie, Sam, Frodo, Merry and Pippin…" Morgan mused. "Nice to meet all of you. I don't believe I've seen any of you around here before, are you new?"

"Yes actually, we just got here the other day." Frodo admitted. "And we're kind of lost. Would you mind helping us find our first class?"

"Of course." She agreed. "What class?"

"Ballroom dance." They all answered at the same time.

"Perfect, that's my first class too. Follow me." Then, after turning to grab her stuff from inside the display case and making sure to lock it up tight (luckily she hadn't needed the key to do so) she took off through the halls, with each of them trailing after her. Whispering in soft voice Morgan couldn't quite hear.

"Well that was easy." Pippin breathed excitedly. "One down, two more to go."

"Are you sure you're not just saying that because you think she's cute, Pip?" Merry teased.

"Of course not!" He protested, glaring at him softly. "I stared into her eyes for at least thirty seconds just like Gandalf told us. I know she's one."

"Yeah and nearly scared her to death at the same time." Rosie pointed out, shaking her head at the boys. "Next time can you guys try not to make it to obvious your staring… Or at least less awkward."

"How can you make staring into someone's eyes for at least thirty seconds, not awkward?" Sam asked.

"Try talking to them first. Be friendly. Like Gandalf also said."

"Well I'm still double checking on Morgan, just in case Pip here is too twitter pated." Merry joked.

"I'm not twitter pated! I don't even know the girl!"

"Exactly why I'm going to double check."

"Here you go." Morgan stated gesturing in the direction of a room with wood paneled floors and mirrors on one side. "I need to go change really quick, but since this is your first day you can go right in. The teacher should get here soon, and I'll help introduce you so don't worry about a thing. Be right back." She disappeared into another room across the crowded hall, and Pippin watched her go. Unsure of what he felt, but positive there was something special about Morgan Wright.

~jb~

"Hey Morgan, what took you so long?" Samantha asked, as the young girl ran straight for her locker rushing to change into her clothes so she wouldn't be late for class despite her slight delay.

"Sorry, I was helping Ms. Christie set up the display case for preschool, and I kind of fell." She admitted sheepishly.

"Are you alright?" Tammy asked immediately concerned

"Yeah, this new kid caught me."

"New kid?" Samantha asked her curiosity immediately peeked. "Well that sounds interesting."

"Yeah, a couple of them actually. He and his friends are in our ballroom class."

"Really? Come on Tammy, let's go meet these newcomers. Hopefully at least one of them is cute."

"Okay, just give me a second. I'll be out."

~jb~

The hobbits were standing in the dance studio staring at both the mirrors and all the teenage humans filling into the room around them.

"There are sure a whole lot of girls who take this class." Sam commented. "How are we supposed to find our three?"

"Well we are supposed to dance with them, right?" Rosie pointed out. "Just try and find them then." Frodo was extremely nervous just thinking about their insurmountable task, plus the fact that he could almost felt Sauron's presence in this world which only made his arm injury act up more, he suddenly found himself feeling thirsty.

"Um…. I think I'm going to go try and find some… water in this place." He said, turning and exiting the room as quickly as he dared, not entirely sure what he was looking for.

Tammy had miraculously beat Samantha outside the locker room, though she wasn't nearly as concerned with meeting the new kids as her dear friend. She was too busy thinking about what song she wanted to use to try out for _Once Upon Mattress_, the musical her Spotlights class was putting on that year. She desperately wanted the part of Winifred, and she was pretty sure she could get it too, all she needed now was a song.

"Excuse me?" Frodo called out to a pretty girl he saw walking past him. "Could you tell me where I might find some water? Hello?" But the girl completely ignored him, and simply continued walking toward the studio. Not one to give up easily he hurried after her, when he heard voices yelling from back in the locker room behind the two of them, their voices together being just enough to catch her attention.

"Tammy! Wait for us!"

"Oh, sorry Samantha!" Tammy called back, turning around and ran right into someone. They both tumbled to the floor, and the boy she ran over cried out, a strange look of pain coming over his face.

"I'm so sorry!" Tammy gasped, feeling her face flush with embarrassment as she scrambled to help him to his feet. "Did I hurt you?"

"No," The boy winced. "It's… just my shoulder."

"Your shoulder?" Tammy asked, confused. She didn't remember hitting his shoulder. How hard did she hit him?

"It's nothing," He assured her, shaking it off. "Just an old injury."

"I'm sorry." Tammy said again. The boy held her gaze for a moment. His face changed somehow…. It suddenly became hopeful. Tammy looked away for a moment, unable to take the awkward stare. His eyes were very blue, in fact they were beautiful. She shook it off, forcing herself to stop blushing.

"Tammy!" She suddenly heard Morgan cry out, as she and Samantha both rushed out of the dressing room together. "Are you okay?" Then turning to assess the situation she smiled at her friend. "I see you've met Frodo."

"Frodo?" Tammy asked. "What kind of name is that? I mean, what does it mean?" She asked wincing at how rude that must have sounded.

"I'm not sure." He admitted.

"Are you from the U.K.?"

"The…? Yes, I am!"

"What part?" Samantha asked eagerly; she loved everything British.

"The Shire-I mean… um…"

"The Shire? I've never heard of that."

"It's not a well-known place." He sighed, seeming very awkward for reasons none of the girls could understand.

"Are all of your friends from the Shire?" Morgan asked curious seeing as they all had similar accents, and appearances.

"Yes, actually and I'm afraid it's very different from this place. Which reminds me, could one of you tell me where I could get some water?" He asked.

"There's a drinking fountain right down this hall. Here I'll show you." Tammy offered, wanting to make up for running into him in the first place. "See you girls in class!"

Shrugging Morgan and Samantha agreed continuing straight into the classroom and walking up to the group of awkward kids hiding away in the corner. "Hi everyone, I'd like you to meet my friend-"

"Jessa." Samantha cut in before Morgan could finish, earning her a strange look but she didn't pay it any attention.

"Hello Jessa, I'm Rosie."

"Sam."

"Pippin."

"And I'm Merry."

"Mary is a girl's name." Samantha blurted the second he finished speaking, earning herself a glare from the surprised boy.

"It is not!" He protested hotly. "It's short for Meriadoc. Meriadoc Brandybuck, thank you very much."

"That's even weirder." Samantha blurted once again, and Merry began to turn the slightest bit pink with embarrassment and anger.

"What my dear friend S… Jessa, is trying to say is, well we think Merry suits you just fine." Morgan faltered desperately, while sending her friend a glare that clearly told her to shut up; but Samantha wasn't paying any attention. Her gaze was locked with Merry's, and he seemed to be staring her down just as Pippin had done to Morgan earlier. As if he was trying to search her very soul. Whatever he found seemed to make his glare soften the tiniest bit, though mostly in disbelief.

"You." He whispered. "Oh, Gandalf's got to be kidding me."

"Who's Gandalf?" The two girls asked at once, just as both Sam and Pippin gave him a sharp nudge.

"And what is he saying about me?" Samantha asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Sam insisted. "He's simply our host father for our time in this country. I don't know what Merry's talking about though."

"Hey Morgan, Samantha, who are you talking to?" Josh Byrd, a tall boy with fair skin, short straight blonde hair, and baby blue eyes, asked as he came to stand beside the two girls, before either of them could think of a response.

"Samantha?" Merry protested, his glare firmly back in place. "I thought you said your name was Jessa."

"It's my middle name." She tried, but none of them bought it. "Okay, so I was only trying to see how long it would be before you'd figure it out. Apparently not very long."

"Anyway, this is Josh, and these are some new kids to our school." Morgan began, and she had just enough time to introduce them all before Frodo, Tammy, and Ms. Daniels came into the room and class began.

"So today we are officially starting our first unit: The Tango." Ms. Daniels announced, and the whole class let out an excited cheer. Except for the hobbits of course, who were extremely confused.

"Um… what dances exactly do you teach in this class?" Merry asked. "I don't believe I've ever heard of the Tango before."

"Well we study a lot of different dances, but our main focus is on the Tango, Western Swing, Cha-cha, and of course the Waltz." She replied patiently, Tammy having already explained to her about the 'transfer' students as they had come into the classroom.

"Oh, I know all about the Waltz." Pippin cried excitedly, as he turned and eagerly swept Morgan into his arms and began waltzing her around the room. Sort of.

"Pippin!" Merry groaned, rolling his eyes in embarrassment for his best friend. "You're doing the _girl_ part!"

"What?" Pippin demanded, his eyes widening with horror as he looked back and forth between him and Morgan, who was shyly nodding her head. "How do you know the lad's part then?"

"I learned it my second year in this class, because there weren't enough guys. Samantha and I were partners actually." She explained shrugging it off nonchalantly. "You're very good at the girl part though. I hardly had to lead you at all."

"Thanks, I guess." He muttered, blushing terribly.

"Ms. Daniels, can Morgan and I please show these guys what a real Waltz looks like." Josh piped up, while glaring furiously in Pippin's direction, for reason's Morgan couldn't understand.

"Sure, Josh. I think that's a good idea." She agreed oblivious to her star pupil's emotional trauma.

"You heard her Pipsqueak, move it." Josh growled softly as he walked over and tried to gently pry Morgan from the other boy's arms.

"My name is Pippin." He protested.

"Whatever, now Pip Pip 'N Cheerio." He replied, before firmly taking Morgan into his own arms and dancing her around like a pro.

"Josh!" She protested, but they soon fell silent as she stared into his deep baby blue eyes and felt him pull her slightly closer to him in an almost protective stance. It wasn't a side Josh usually showed, but somehow Morgan found she liked it. She'd had a major crush on Josh ever since her sophomore year of high school, but ever since then he'd only ever seemed to see her as a friend. They did practically everything together from ballroom dance to orchestra, and he was the one guy she truly felt comfortable with.

After what felt like an eternity the pair finally came to a stop, not once breaking eye contact the whole time they danced, and the entire class burst into applause; even an embarrassed Pippin managed a grudging clap or two.

"Well done, you two. Now let's have the girl's line up on this side of the room and the boys on the other and you can choose your Tango partners." Ms. Daniels said, back to business now that this matter had been settled. "Remember no one can have the same partner twice, and we'll switch off who does the asking each unit. Today is boy's choice. Go ahead."

**Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Attitude Problems

Jessie Brown

Tammy made her way upstairs to her next class. She had U.S. government. It was a great place for her to catch up on sleep. She didn't hear Frodo and Rosie yelling to catch up to her. Clearly, they were still lost.

"Tammy, wait up!"

"Tammy!"

"No, this is how you yell: TAMMY!"

Tammy jumped when she heard Rosie yell at the top of her lungs. She turned around and saw the two friends walk up to her. Students around them looked over curiously, while other rolled their eyes, and some looked like they just suffered a heart attack.

"Hi," Tammy said, though she felt embarrassed.

"We can't find our next class." Rosie said.

"Just follow the numbers." Tammy answered.

"Why do you use numbers for everything?" Frodo asked.

"I don't know," Tammy shrugged. "What class do you have?"

Rosie held up her schedule. "It says…Us Government."

"You mean, U.S. Government, right?" Tammy corrected. Rosie nodded, cheeks turning red.

"What teacher?"

"Mr. Duffy," Rosie replied.

"I can't hear you, honey."

"Mr. Duffy," Rosie repeated, a little louder.

"That's my class," Tammy said. "Follow me."

~jb~

Once they were in class, Mr. Duffy had Frodo sit next to Tammy, and Rosie in front of her. During class, Tammy occupied herself with a pencil. She went from taking out her notebook and writing the story she was working on, to balancing it on her head. After the third attempt, she got bored and started shaking it up and down.

"All right now," Mr. Duffy said in his loud voice. "Take out your books and turn to page R27 and answer these questions." He handed out a green worksheet. Tammy opened her book and took the green paper from Mr. Duffy.

"Now, after class," He said, addressing Frodo and Rosie. "Remember to go to the library and check out your books."

Frodo and Rosie nodded, and then looked at each other in confusion.

"Don't worry," Tammy said, waving them off as Mr. Duffy walked away. "I'll show you where the library is."

Frodo and Rosie looked at each other, shrugged, and went to their books. They struggled to find the right page, and then struggled to find the right answers. Frodo looked over to see Tammy had already finished the first page, but she had stopped to entertain herself by bobbing her pencil up and down.

"Tammy," Frodo whispered. "You're done already?"

"Nope," Tammy sighed. "But if you wiggle a pencil like this it turns into rubber."

Rosie turned around and smiled. She grabbed her pencil and started to copy Tammy.

"Wow!" Rosie gasped. "It's like magic."

"Yep,"

Frodo rolled his eyes and went back to his work. After a while, Tammy and Rosie stopped and went back to their work as well. Frodo started tapping the eraser of his pencil in frustration. What on earth was impeachment?

"Tammy," He finally whispered again. "Why is your government so…complicated?"

"I don't know," Tammy said, looking at the ceiling. "I wasn't at the meeting."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm counting the rectangles on the ceiling."

"Do you not like this class?"

"Nope,"

Frodo sighed. "Then why did you take it?"

"It's required."

"By whom?"

"By the district…or something like that."

Frodo tried his best to understand... but this world just seemed so strange.

"Aw!" Tammy exclaimed.

"What's wrong?"

"I lost count," Tammy replied. "Now I have to start over!" Frodo tried to look up and see what was so interesting about rectangles on the ceiling, but he was suddenly blinded by a bright light.

Frodo didn't like this class either.

~jb~

"So…you guys have never checked out a book before?" Tammy asked as they made their way out of the library.

"No," Rosie said.

"I'm so sorry," Tammy said.

"Don't be," Frodo said. "We've got plenty back home."

"I would hope so." Tammy said.

"You like to read?" Frodo asked.

"Yes!"

"Me too."

The two stayed silent for a long time as they made their way to the large locker banks which were saved especially for seniors.

"Did you guys bring lunch?" Tammy asked.

"Uh, no," Rosie said uneasily. "No one told us we had to bring lunch."

"Really?" Tammy asked, her eyes widening. "You can have some of mine then, I always bring too much, and I can't eat it all anyways. I have a small appetite. Wait here; I'll go get it from my locker." Tammy walked away into the locker banks.

"Small appetite?" Rosie whispered to Frodo. "Are you sure it's her?"

"I'm sure." Frodo replied.

_Baggins _

"It didn't seem like thirty seconds when you ran into her." Rosie replied.

"She ran into me," Frodo argued. "And I don't think that was by coincidence."

_Baggins_

"She did that on purpose?" Rosie guessed.

"No," Frodo said. "I think it's fate." He looked over at Tammy by her locker. It was decorated with all sorts of colorful pictures. But Rosie could see the look in his face, while staring at Tammy.

_Baggins _

"Frodo," Rosie said. "You like her."

"Of course, she's a nice girl and she's offering us food. She's a good friend." Frodo reasoned.

_Baggins _

"No, I mean _like_ her!" Rosie said.

"No, not like _that_!" Frodo gasped. He was about to turn to Rosie to argue his point, when he suddenly felt a strange presence. His shoulder began to ache, and he suddenly saw a vision of the great eye that had been haunting his dreams for many weeks. He felt light-headed and knelt on the ground.

_Baggins! _

"Frodo?" Rosie asked, quite startled. "What's wrong."

Frodo would've responded, but he blacked out.

"All right, all right," Frodo suddenly heard a voice that sounded familiar. "Back up, give him some room." Frodo opened his eyes and looked up to see a strange person leaning over him.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine," Frodo said slowly. "Do I know you?"

"I can't say we've met." The stranger replied. "I'm Mr. Kochevar, and I'm the principal here. It was a good thing you were kneeling when you fainted. Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"Yes," Frodo said, standing up and finding his strength again. He and Mr. Kochevar held a stare for a long moment. Both of their faces were unreadable.

"Let's go," Rosie said. "Let's find a seat." Frodo followed Rosie, but his eyes did not leave Mr. Kochevar's.

"Is he alright?" Tammy asked, walking up to the principal.

"He's fine," Mr. Kochevar replied. "Did you just meet him today?"

"Yes,"

"What's his name?"

"Frodo,"

Mr. Kochevar stiffened. "I see...and what's your name?"

"Tammy Tims, sir."

"Well, Miss Tims," Mr. Kochevar said smoothly. "You best be careful; you don't want to make friends of the wrong sort."

"Er…thanks…?" Tammy said uneasily. She quickly walked toward the commons to find her friends.

**Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! **


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

James… James who?

May Waters

"There you are Tammy!" Samantha looked up at her friend with a smile.

"Hey!" Tammy set her lunch box down, Frodo and Rosie glanced at each other before sitting next to her at the table.

"Morgan with you?"

"No, she went to her locker." Tammy grinned and then began to sign:

_Frodo fainted…_

"He did?" Samantha asked.

_Yes._

"That's terrible, do you know why?"

_No…I don't know. _

_Keep an eye on him. _Samantha signed in turn.

Tammy nodded.

"What was that?" Rosie asked.

"They were speaking in American Sign Language again." Morgan explained.

"Sign language?" Frodo repeated.

"It's a language for those who are either really hard of hearing or deaf, which means they can't hear at all. This way they can still communicate their needs. It's pretty cool to watch, but I could never learn it." Morgan told them further as Tammy rubbed her nose at something she had been signing and Samantha burst into laughter.

"Tammy's hard of hearing, so we communicate through sign at times." Samantha stated opening the lid to her sandwich box. "I'm in ASL Three, she's in ASL One."

"There you are," Merry, Pippin and Sam had finally shown up and where sliding into the seats next to them. Merry ended up next to Samantha, neither looked pleased with the arrangements.

Tammy became distracted as a certain handsome jock walked past. The two girls who knew Tammy well enough were giggling like mad at their friend's reaction. After a moment their friend seemed to come back to her senses and blushed, quite embarrassed.

"Sorry," Tammy apologized.

"Oh James!" Samantha mocked teasingly, causing the hobbits to stare at her as though she were mad. "We will get married in two years' time, have riches beyond all our dreams and we'll have lots of furs; even children, who can also have furs!"

"Samantha!" Tammy ducked her head into her lunch box for a moment.

"You've been in love with him for, what, two years now? Darling, you're not getting any younger and he is not losing his charm, or hotness. You should ask him to Sadie's or something." Samantha pushed with a wave of her hand. Some of the Hobbits looked uncomfortable about what the conversation had turned into.

"I think I'll stick to studying him from afar," Tammy replied.

"Besides, Tammy liking James is just like you liking Dominic Monaghan." Morgan pointed out.

"Have you seen Dominic Monaghan? He is freaking gorgeous. Even with a spider on his face-which is saying something."

"I have to admit, he does look pretty good." Tammy said.

"Pretty good? He was amazing in _Lost_, especially with his random singing because he was in a band." Samantha sighed dramatically, pretending to swoon and get lost in a whole other world. "Dom cracks me up."

"Moving onto other topics," Morgan gave a pointed look at the hobbits who were having a silent conversation of their own.

"What man tickles your fancy Morgan?"

"Samantha!" Morgan swatted at her friend, turning her head away and putting her hand up, hiding her face and refusing to look over.

"Come on, I was teasing." Samantha rolled her eyes and looked towards the hobbits. "What class do you lot have next?"

"Literary Magazine?" Pippin glanced down at his schedule, looking confused.

"That's a fun class; we all have it together next." Samantha gave them all a warm smile, which Merry took as more threatening considering her actions earlier in the morning.

~jb~

When they walked into Literary Magazine, Ms. DeFriez had them introduce the new students to the class. Samantha took charge a bit and couldn't resist the temptation to poke a little fun at Merry.

"His name is Mary,"

"As in the girl's name, Mary?" Tyler Brown asked.

"Yep," Samantha grinned.

"It is not a girl's name." Merry defended once again.

"Her name is Mary," Samantha pointed to a brunette girl in the back. Then she grabbed a marker off the board and wrote MARY on the board in all caps. "That's how you spell it right?"

"No, it's spelled like this," Merry took the marker from her. He wrote the M, then realized he nearly forgotten how to write a few letters in the common language. Glancing down the board for the letters he needed he managed to write out MERRY.

"Oh, as in "Merry Christmas," well you should've just said so." Samantha gave him a soft smile, which caused him to drop the marker.

"What's your class after this one?" Samantha asked sitting on Merry's desk and snapping the gum she had popped in her mouth just a little while ago.

"Calligraphy," Merry replied.

"Me too," Said Frodo.

"That's my class, I'll take you there Merry Christmas, and Frodo of course."

"What is calligraphy?" Merry asked as the bell rang. Samantha slid from the desk and put on her backpack, carrying _Starcrossed_ by Josephine Angelini in her arms.

"Fancy writing class,"

"You have to learn how to write fancy?" Merry was used to seeing the writing of Elves and Hobbits on a regular basis, and it was extremely pretty. He remembered looking over Frodo's shoulder whenever he was writing something. He and Bilbo Baggins had similar handwriting.

"Well yeah, it's not really that important. Just make sure your handwriting is legible- unless you want to get credit and write crap about something. Then just make it as messy as possible so no one can really make out what you said." Samantha slung an arm around each of the boys' shoulders. "I'm sure you'll like the class."

~jb~

After school, Frodo, Merry, and Samantha were passing by the attendance office when Gandalf emerged.

"Gandalf!" Frodo and Merry greeted. Samantha was unsure of what to do: stay and hang around or continue outside to where she could go home and play video games?

"Hello Frodo, Meriadoc." Gandalf looked up and saw Samantha. "Ah, and who might you be?"

"Samantha Foote, sir," She replied clutching the book to her chest.

"I am Mr. White, the new Vice Principal; it's good to meet you."

"Good to meet you as well Mr. White, I really must be going. My dad is waiting for me," Samantha turned and began to walk away, but turned around once more to give a parting wave. "See you Merry Christmas!"

"She is a nice girl," Gandalf chuckled. "Merry Christmas, eh, my dear Brandybuck?"

"After discovering how my name was spelled, she seemed to have adopted it as my real name." Merry grumbled folding his arms and staring at the ground.

"Have you found your hobbits yet?" Gandalf whispered in an undertone as Pippin, Rosie, and Sam slipped up behind.

"Yes, all three." Frodo told him.

"In one day?"

"Samantha was one of them," Rosie explained, having seen the exchange.

"Ah, and the other two?"

"Samantha's best friends; Tammy and Morgan," Sam finished off.

"Well, I think you ought to get home and work on your homework. You do have to turn it in after all."

"Brilliant," Pippin mumbled shifting his books.

"Go on, here are the keys to the house. I'll be along in a couple hours," The five hobbits made their way out of the school and back towards their temporary home.

**Another day, another chapter. Hope y'all enjoyed! Stay safe and healthy!**


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